---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 06:05:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: US in the dock over human rights record
(london) Electronic Telegraph International News
ISSUE 1227 Sunday 4 October 1998
Amnesty puts US in the dock over human rights record
By Christina Lamb in London and James Langton in New York
< The death penalty - North America Project -- Amnesty International >
==========================================
THE United States government is planning a furious rebuttal to a
stinging denunciation of its human rights record by Amnesty
International.
For the first time, the London-based human rights agency has made the
US the target of its worldwide campaign, accusing it of double
standards and creating a climate "in which human rights violations
thrive".
The 153-page report, which is released on Tuesday, attacks the US for
what it calls "a persistent and widespread pattern of human rights
violations". Although Amnesty has often criticised the US in the past,
and carried out investigations into specific issues, it is the first
time it has made it the focus of its campaign for the year. Previous
subjects in recent years have included Rwanda, Haiti, Afghanistan and
Guatemala.
US federal and state authorities, police, immigration and prison
officers are all criticised in the wide-ranging report that paints a
picture of generalised gratuitous violence, sexual abuse and cruelty.
Shocked at being singled out for such ferocious criticism, the State
Department is planning to issue a detailed repudiation tomorrow. The
Clinton administration in particular has always been a supporter of
Amnesty International, and there was a clear sense of betrayal over
the report.
The authors of the report said: "While successive US governments have
used international human rights standards as a yardstick by which to
judge other countries they have not consistently applied those same
standards at home. Across the USA people have been beaten, kicked,
punched, choked and shot by police officers even when they posed no
threat."
Aside from famous cases such as the beating of Rodney King by Los
Angeles police, numerous instances of police brutality are cited.
"Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have
misused batons, chemical sprays and electro-shock weapons; they have
injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint
holds."
It claims that authorities pay out millions of dollars in damages
rather than actually tackle the problem or institute any form of
accountability. The report accuses the US of refusing to recognise the
primacy of international law, reserving the right to use death penalty
against juveniles, not paying its dues to the UN, to which it now owes
over a billion dollars, and being one of only two countries (along
with Somalia) that has failed to ratify the UN Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
Conditions in American prisons come in for particular criticism. The
number of people in US jails has tripled since 1980 to more than 1.7
million, and chains and leg-irons are commonly used as restraints
despite being prohibited by international law.
The report says: "Women and men are subjected to sexual as well as
physical abuse. Overcrowded and underfunded prisons control inmates by
isolating them for long periods and by using methods of restraint that
are cruel, degrading and sometimes life-threatening. Victims include
pregnant women, the mentally ill and even children."
According to the authors of the report, much of this abuse is linked
to racism. They say: "The US has not succeeded in eradicating the
discriminatory treatment of blacks, Latinos and other minority
groups."
They also point out that up to one third of all young black men are in
jail or on parole or probation and that in 39 states, gays and
lesbians can be legally dismissed from their jobs because of their
sexual orientation. It contains graphic descriptions of asylum seekers
held in shackles, placed behind bars and detained in "inhuman and
degrading" conditions. It says: "The USA was built by immigrants and
claims to stand against oppression. Yet the US authorities violate the
human rights of people who have been forced by persecution to leave
their countries and seek asylum."
Amnesty has been involved in a long-standing battle with the US over
its continued use of the death penalty. Executions are on the
increase, more than 350 people put to death since 1990 and a further
3,300 people are on death row.
According to Amnesty, the death penalty is "applied in an arbitrary
and unfair manner and is prone to bias on grounds of race or economic
status . . . it has become so highly politicised that virtually no
politician is willing to speak out against it".
It cites for example the case of Karla Faye Tucker who was executed in
February despite her acknowledged reform while on death row when she
admitted her guilt, became deeply religious and spoke of her desire to
help others to learn from her experiences.
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